How to Stone Cherries

Athena Hessong Updated February 21, 2017

While enjoying a bowl of cherries, sooner or later you will run into their pits. These pits, also known as stones, give the fruit family to which cherries belong its name: stone fruits. To remove the pit from the cherry, you can skip the expensive and counter-cluttering cherry pitters, as household items, with some practice, can be used instead to stone cherries. Choose your method of removing the stone based on how you intend to use the cherries. For example, a paper clip leaves only one hole, but it takes slightly more skill, while a straw leaves two holes in the cherries.

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Bend open a paper clip into an S-shape.

Pull the stem out of a cherry held over a bowl.

Insert the wider portion of the s-shape into the stem hollow and around the stone inside the fruit.

Move the paper clip in the cherry to under the pit; pull the paper clip up with the pit cradled in its bend.

Discard the stone and repeat with any remaining cherries. This method leaves only one hole in the fruit.

Hold a cherry over a bowl with its stem intact.

Insert a drinking straw into the bottom of the cherry, directly below the stem.

Push the straw through the cherry until it emerges from the cherry's opposite end with the pit and stem inside it.

Pull the straw out of the stoned cherry.

Change straws as each one fills with cherry stones and stems. This method leaves two holes in cherries. Use it for cherries meant to be used in preserves or pies where the appearance of the fruit is less important.